Advanced Buoy Technology (ABT) was set up in January 2010 to develop solutions using buoy technology that can provide cost efficiencies.
The firm said that, due to their versatile nature, buoys can generate significant capital and operational cost savings over traditional offshore structures such as vessels, semisubmersibles and fixed platforms.
It added: “This means they can significantly improve the returns of a project, whether they are used independently or as part of a larger project. Such cost savings can radically change the economics of project models, meaning that assets that were classed as uneconomic when considered using conventional technologies can be brought into economic viability.
“The concept is fundamentally a buoy structure with an access tower. The buoy is submersible with the tower above the surface which provides excellent stability, eliminates damage due to wave action and requires minimal mooring.”
In May last year, ABT and Wood Group said they had entered into a strategic partnership to commercialise technology based around the concept of an unmanned oil production buoy for exploitation of marginal and end-of-life offshore oil fields.
